Depositional history of the Sulu Sea from ODP sites 768, 769 and 771

Journal Article · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i011p02065· OSTI ID:5504882

Nichols, G ^[1]; Betzler, C ^[2]; Brass, G ^[3]; Huang, Zehui ^[4]; Linsley, B ^[5]; Merrill, D; Shyu, Jihping ^[6]; Mueller, C ^[7]; Nederbragt, A ^[8]; Pubellier, M ^[9]; Sajona, F ^[10]; Scherer, R ^[11]; Shibuya, Hidetoshi ^[12]; Smith, R ^[13]; Solidum, R ^[14]; Spadea, P ^[15]

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1. Univ. of London (England)
2. Geologisches Institut, Tuebingen (West Germany)
3. Univ. of Miami, FL (USA)
4. Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada)
5. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (USA)
6. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (USA)
7. Universitaet of Frankfurt (West Germany)
8. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
9. Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris (France)
10. Petrolab, Quezon City (Philippines)
11. Ohio State Univ., Columbus (USA)
12. University of Osaka, Sakai (Japan)
13. California State Univ., Fresno (USA)
14. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Quezon City (Philippines)
15. Universita di Udine (Italy)

Holes were drilled at three Sites in the Sulu Sea on Ocean Drilling Program Leg 124. Site 768 lies in the deeper part of the SE sub-basin and Sites 769 and 771 lie on the flanks of the Cagayan ridge. The results indicate that the Sulu Basin originated in the late early Miocene (c. 18.8 Ma) in a backarc setting. The Cagayan Ridge was a site of early to early middle Miocene arc volcanism with the deposition of a thick sequence of andesitic to basaltic volcaniclastic deposits. In the basin center an early Miocene pelagic sequence is interrupted by a thick unit of rhyolitic to dacitic pyroclastic flows. Middle to late Miocene sedimentation is more continental in character with thick quartz-rich turbidites in the basin center. Only the hemipelagic claystone related to these terrigenous turbidites were deposited on the Cagayan Ridge. A decrease in the supply of clastic detritus from arc and continental sources and a change in the level of the carbonate compensation depth in the upper Pliocene resulted in pelagic carbonate deposition throughout the late Pliocene and Pleistocene.

• OSTI ID: 5504882
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States), Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States) Vol. 17:11; ISSN 0094-8276; ISSN GPRLA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
ASIA
BOREHOLES
CARBONATE ROCKS
CAVITIES
CENOZOIC ERA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
DEPOSITION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DRILLING
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGY
IGNEOUS ROCKS
ISLANDS
MIOCENE EPOCH
PACIFIC OCEAN
PHILIPPINES
PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
PLIOCENE EPOCH
QUATERNARY PERIOD
ROCKS
SEA BED
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTATION
SURFACE WATERS
TERTIARY PERIOD
VOLCANIC ROCKS
VOLCANISM